Unfaithful Wives (Motif)
Multiple tales in The Canterbury Tales feature stories about unfaithful wives and cuckolded husbands. The most famous example of this motif is The Miller's Tale, in which the cuckolded husband behaves foolishly as he is consistently deceived by his wife and her lover. While this particular tale – an example of fabliaux – is meant to entertain, the recurring motif of unfaithful wives emphasizes a deeper anxiety among the male pilgrims and Medieval patriarchal society as a whole. That is, the emphasis on adulterous wives underscores the social concern around female sexuality and in many ways pokes fun at the policing of women's bodies that was operative at the time.
Springtime (Symbol)
The Canterbury Tales begins with a lengthy and elaborate depiction of springtime: the rain starts to water the roots of the plants, the breeze starts to blow, crops begin to bloom, and animals initiate their mating rituals. This is also, the General Prologue announces, the time that pilgrims travel to pay homage to various saints that helped them survive the winter. Springtime symbolizes rebirth and renewal, and it serves as the backdrop to Chaucer's representation of Medieval society in miniature.
Hypocrisy (Motif)
Because of the narrator's declaration in the General Prologue that the text will be replete with both "earnest and game," readers may be on the look-out for characters whose tales are ironic depictions of Medieval life rather than earnest ones. As such, The Canterbury Tales features a great deal of hypocritical characters (and hypocritical pilgrims), who purport to act very different from how they actually behave. Nowhere is this phenomenon more noticeable than in the various religious figures who appear throughout the text. Chaucer's affinity for making religious authorities hypocritical and duplicitous suggests his investment in criticizing elements of Medieval society that are unfair or absurd.
Clothing (Symbol)
Clothing is an important symbol in the text, especially for the pilgrims as they become acquainted with one another. The Knight, for example dons blood-stained armor, suggesting that he fulfills his knightly responsibilities and speaks in earnest when he tells his tale. By contrast, the Prioress wears very ornamental clothing, suggesting that she is more devoted to her outward appearance than her purported relationship with God. In many ways, clothing is the first indicator for the audience as to whether a character will receive an ironic portrayal or an honest one.
Interruptions (Motif)
Both a major theme and a major motif in the text, the phenomenon of interruption (or "quitting," as the characters refer to it) becomes an important plot device for moving the tales along. The Miller, for example, interrupts the Knight out of boredom, while the Reeve interrupts the Miller after he takes offense to the Miller's Tale. Later on, the Host interrupts the fictive Geoffrey Chaucer to insult the Tale of Sir Thopas, suggesting that not even the poet himself is safe from criticism. These various interruptions showcase the tense social dynamics that underlie the pilgrimage while also allowing Chaucer to jump from tale to tale in a way that mimics the real-life chaos of the journey.
